Duration of withdrawal of life support in the intensive care unit and association with family satisfaction.

ABSTRACT:

Rationale

Most deaths in the intensive care unit (ICU) involve withholding or withdrawing multiple life-sustaining therapies, but little is known about how to proceed practically and how this process affects family satisfaction.

Objectives

To examine the duration of life-support withdrawal and its association with overall family satisfaction with care in the ICU.

Methods

We studied family members of 584 patients who died in an ICU at 1 of 14 hospitals after withdrawal of life support and for whom complete medical chart and family questionnaires were available.

Measurements and main results

Data concerning six life-sustaining interventions administered during the last 5 days of life were collected. Families were asked to rate their satisfaction with care using t

SUBMITTER: Gerstel E 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2566791 | biostudies-literature | 2008 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature